Choosing a Christmas tree a family affair in Ukiah

The hunt was on for the perfect Christmas tree Saturday at Nelson's Tree Farm, with families roaming the hillside among the growing conifers and calling to one another.

"Mom, we found one we like!" called Addy Gordon, 5, who was down the sloping hillside and a few rows away from her mother, Liz, and younger sister, Maeli, 4.

The family of five picked a tall, full Douglas fir and used one of the Nelsons' provided saws to cut it down.

"The families come and it's such a tradition," said Missy Nelson, who runs the tree farm with her husband, Greg. "You don't see them for a year and all of a sudden they're here again, and it's such a wonderful connection."

The Gordon family of Ukiah came back this year for the fourth time.

"It was a tradition when I was a kid," said Liz Gordon, who grew up in Sacramento.

Her daughter, Maeli, 4, took off her sweater and walked around in her skirt and short sleeves as the family hiked up the hillside to check out the options on the 4.5-acre farm. Maeli knew what she was looking for in a Christmas tree: "A big one."

Looking forward to getting the tree home, she said her favorite ornament is "the snowflake bells."

Karin and Mike Strykowski were at the Nelsons' Choose and Cut Christmas Tree Farm for their third year, not just for tradition's sake, but because fresh-cut trees don't activate Karin's allergies like cut trees she's bought that are sprayed with moisturizer.

"We actually drove all the way from Healdsburg," she said. "It's a tradition for us, it's worth the drive and we like to support small family farmers."

"We mainly look for one that fits," smiled Mike Strykowski. "It has to have three good sides."

The couple's children, ages 2 and 5, came along for the trip.

"These guys will get bored after a while and go to the playground," he said, pointing to a play area within eyesight of the hillside where children can ride a merry-go-round, among other things, while their parents do the dirty work.

The Nelsons also offer candy canes, and hot cider and cocoa, along with any needed help cutting down the trees.

Missy Nelson said the family plants about 1,000 new trees every year, including noble, grand, Douglas and white fir trees, along with cedar trees. She said it takes seven to eight years for a Douglas fir to mature, and 11 to 12 years for a white fir to grow to a height of six or seven feet.

Also available at the Nelson farm are fresh, hand-made bay wreaths, which Missy said the family not only uses to decorate, but to cook.

"Most of these were cut Wednesday," she said.

The Nelsons know that cutting down your own tree is a great family activity, and even the family dog can come on a leash and help look for the elf hiding among the trees. Anyone who finds him gets any tree for free.

The tree farm is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday ad Sunday, and is located at the end of Nelson Ranch Road, which turns west off of Highway 101 where the four-lane highway becomes a two--lane highway south of Ukiah.

Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@pacific.net, on Twitter @TiffanyRevelle or at 468-3523.